The Swiss Stock Market Finished With A Slight Loss Thursday

4/5/2012 12:20 PM ET

The Swiss stock market finished with a small loss on Thursday, heading into a long weekend for the Easter holiday. The market traded steadily to the downside in the morning, but recovered in the afternoon.

The release of the better than expected U.S. weekly jobless claims in the afternoon coincided with the turnaround by the European markets. The U.S. employment situation report will be released on Friday when stock markets are closed.

The Swiss Market Index fell by 0.05 percent Thursday and closed at 6,163.49. The Swiss Leader Index declined by 0.17 percent and the Swiss Performance Index dipped by 0.01 percent.

Financial stocks were under pressure in early trade, due to concerns over the situation in Spain and the increase in the yields of Spanish government bonds. The afternoon recovery brought some financial stocks back into the positive, such as Julius Baer, which finished up by 0.3 percent. Swiss Re climbed by 0.7 percent and Baloise gained 0.3 percent.

The index heavyweights provided little support on Thursday. Novartis climbed by 0.2 percent, but Roche and Nestle both fell by 0.06 percent each.